South East Water have taken delivery of a BCS Bank Commander, a complete grassland management system, from Tracmaster Ltd, for their site at Arlington Reservoir in East Sussex.

This was made possible following a grant South East Water received from the Weald Meadows Initiative small grant scheme, and their principle funder, The Tubney Charitable Trust whose aims are routed in the conservation of the natural environment.

Established in 1984, Tracmaster has gained an enviable reputation over the last 25 years in the horticultural industry, both for the reliability and performance of its ground care machines as the sole UK supplier for the BCS Two-Wheel Tractors and Power Scythes, as well as the manufacturer and sole distributor of their own range CAMON.

The team at Arlington Reservoir needed a pedestrian operated machine for cutting overgrown areas on the sloping banks around the water, something the Commander is built to do on slopes up to 40%. They also had a need to find a way of binding the cut material or arising into manageable bales to remove from the site, which is where Tracmaster joined forces with Ben Burgess one of its Authorised Dealers, to find the attachment for this job.

Ben Burgess in Norwich, who having been serving the Norfolk and Suffolk farming community since 1931 and the horticultural community since 1962, were able to supply just the right product in the Caeb Mountain Press Mini Baler, which fits perfectly to the BCS Bank Commander.

The need to remove arising from the site takes away nutrients from the habitat which then encourages wild flowers and grasses to spread and not be ‘out done’ by rank grasses such as brambles and scrub.

Tracey Younghusband, Environmental Office at South East Water said “We opted for the BCS equipment for two main reasons; I had used the machinery before and was impressed with the effectiveness it provided. We also wanted a piece of kit that was affordable, user friendly and most importantly could be used with a bailer to achieve our conservation objectives.”

After a successful demonstration, representatives from both companies oversaw the installation of the machinery and provided training for the environmental team at Arlington Reservoir.